


There's A Guy At That Party

by lucycourageous



Series: If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple [3]
Category: Legally Blonde - All Media Types, Legally Blonde - Hach/O'Keefe/Benjamin
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Party, Pining, Secret Crush, Slice of Life, callahan and warner are mentioned only, hints of mutual pining, or perhaps not so secret, pre-wyndam trial, very minor references to alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27805816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucycourageous/pseuds/lucycourageous
Summary: "There's a guy at that party who loves you."Elle (enthusiastically) and Emmett (reluctantly) attend a party.
Relationships: Emmett Forrest/Elle Woods
Series: If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109252
Comments: 21
Kudos: 85





	There's A Guy At That Party

Emmett heaved a sigh to himself as he looked around the dimly lit living room. He had never really liked parties, but law school parties were a special kind of awful. Sooner or later they always seemed to devolve into bragging contests over who was the most sleep-deprived or had applied for the most internships or who would be staying in the most impressive summer home over spring break. It wasn’t just for the sake of his legal career that he’d given up attending these kinds of things while he was a student.

There was only one person he’d put himself through this torture for, and she was currently off on the other side of the room, chatting cheerfully with two of her friendlier classmates, her light pink dress a splash of colour against a subdued background of blacks, greys and blues. Emmett smiled as Elle tipped her head back in a laugh, just glad that she was having a good time, especially considering the experience she’d had at her last campus party. 

“What’s the matter, Emmett, worried she’s going to disappear?” 

Emmett dragged his eyes away from Elle to find Vivian standing next to him, a glass of wine in one hand and a condescending smile on her face. 

He was so thrown by the fact that she was even talking to him – they’d hardly spoken two words to each other this entire year – that for a second he couldn’t figure out who she was referring to. 

“Who?” 

“Oh, please. You know who I’m talking about, you’ve barely taken your eyes off her all evening.” She seemed to think about that for a second and snorted, “Sorry, allow me to rephrase: you’ve barely taken your eyes off her since you met her.” 

_Oh, right. Elle._

He knew perfectly well that there had been gossip about him and Elle before winter break; he’d spent so much time at her dorm, someone was bound to notice him coming or going eventually, and the entire class had seen them arrive at Callahan’s lectures together on multiple occasions. There had been a lot of whispering among Elle’s classmates, some teasing from his fellow TAs, and even one rather pointed comment from Professor Stromwell about maintaining a professional relationship with students during a faculty meeting. 

With the new semester and her triumphant transformation into a star student, though, most people seemed to have lost interest in the rumour that Elle Woods was sleeping with Callahan’s TA, to Emmett’s great relief. It wasn’t that he particularly cared if people talked about him and Elle, as long as it didn’t upset her – but he wasn’t necessarily looking for an audience either. 

He could feel Vivian watching him, looking him over head to toe as she waited for him to reply. He tensed instinctively, half expecting a snide comment about his slightly rumpled shirt or his scuffed shoes. In the end, none came, but he could tell she wasn’t impressed. 

“Are you not drinking?” Vivian asked, when it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything, gesturing at his empty hands with her wine glass. 

“Not currently.” 

She rolled her eyes, “I’m surprised you’re even here. I didn’t think parties were your thing.” 

He shrugged, looking away, “Elle asked me to come.” 

She’d begged actually, collapsing next to him on her dorm room bed and linking her arm through his, her bottom lip stuck out in a playful pout. And of course he’d had to say yes because he knew from experience that if he didn’t, she was going to rest her chin on his shoulder and bat her eyelashes at him, and he knew (also from experience) that if she did that, he would turn into a stuttering, blushing idiot and end up doing whatever she wanted anyway. So he’d hurriedly agreed, breathing a faint sigh of mingled relief and disappointment when she pulled away from him, bouncing to her feet in excitement. 

Vivian laughed incredulously, “And what, you couldn’t say no?” 

_Of course not,_ is what he thought.

“She’s my friend,” is what he said. 

“Oh, Emmett,” Vivian said, the words dripping with so much false sympathy he could have drowned in it, “she really has you eating out of the palm of her hand, doesn’t she.” 

He frowned, his skin prickling with irritation. “Sorry, but I don’t understand why you care.” 

It came out a little sharper than he’d intended it to and Vivian smirked, “I guess I just find it strange that a guy who graduated top of his class at Harvard Law would be interested in…” She looked over at Elle and wrinkled her nose in a show of distaste, “Malibu Barbie.” 

“Elle got the exact same grade as Warner in Callahan’s last assessment,” Emmett said coolly, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if she beats you to the top of the class in the next one.” 

Vivian smiled, her eyebrows raised in very evident disbelief, “Mmhmm. I suppose you think she’s actually got a shot at Callahan’s internship too.” 

He grinned back at her, “A better shot than Warner. Remind me, how much did his dad have to ‘donate’ to get him off that wait list again?” 

Two spots of colour flared high on Vivian’s cheekbones, her eyes sparking hot with anger, and though he knew it was stupid to pick fights, the petty part of him that had gotten him through some of the darker moments of his academic career muttered that it was worth it. 

He braced himself for her retort – maybe something about his background, he wouldn’t put it past her, or more jabs about his relationship with Elle – but she had barely even opened her mouth before he felt the light press of a warm palm against his shoulder and then Elle was next to him, looking relaxed and confident in a way that immediately put him at ease. 

“Hey, sorry I took so long, Em. Here’s your drink.” She passed him a glass with a bright smile, not even sparing a glance at Vivian. “There’s some space on the couch over there, do you wanna go sit down?” 

She looked so eager, he couldn’t help smiling back at her, “Sounds good.” 

“Hello, Elle.”` 

Vivian’s voice was icy, her smile sickly sweet. 

Elle turned to look at her in surprise, as if she’d only just noticed her standing there, “Oh, hi, Vivian. How are you?” 

“Fine, thank you.” Her gaze slid over Elle’s shoulder to land on Emmett’s face, her eyes narrowing slightly, “We were just having a chat. I wanted to say, Emmett, I think it’s so great of you to give Elle so much help with her work. I bet you’d be lost without him, right, Elle?” 

“Oh, yeah, he’s a great tutor,” Elle said, unperturbed and innocent, “why, are you having trouble with something? Because I’m sure he’d be happy to help you if you’re struggling, wouldn’t you, Em?” 

Emmett spluttered as he accidentally inhaled some of his drink. The expression on Vivian’s face was murderous. 

“Oh, sure,” he said, when he could breathe again, “I’d love to.” 

“How generous,” Vivian said, through clenched teeth, “excuse me, I should go and find Warner, he’s probably missing me.” 

“By all means.” 

“Bye!” Elle wiggled her fingers in a wave as Vivian stalked away, her enthusiastic smile collapsing into a grimace as soon as the other woman’s back was turned, “God, she’s the worst sometimes.” She looked round at him, “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, fine,” he said, faintly surprised by the note of concern in her voice, “why wouldn’t I be?” 

She fidgeted, sheepish all of a sudden, reaching out to pluck a stray piece of fluff which he hadn’t even noticed from the front of his shirt, “Well, you looked kinda stressed when I came over. I was worried she was saying something awful to you.” 

“Oh.” He flushed, finding himself suddenly torn between gut-lurching nausea at the idea of Elle overhearing anything Vivian had just said to him and euphoria over the fact that she’d been _worried_ about him. “No. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a great conversation by any means, but I’m okay. Thank you.” 

”Good.” Elle's soft green eyes tipped up to his as she smiled, and Emmett held his breath. There was something about the way she looked at him sometimes – the way she was looking at him now – that made him feel like they were the only two people in the room, like she was sharing a joke with him that only they understood. When she looked at him like that, he almost thought she might…

Then suddenly, his hand was in hers and she was pulling him across the room towards the couch where a couple of other people were starting some kind of drinking game, practically vibrating with enthusiasm, “Come on, Em, this is the first night off I’ve had in months, we’re making the most of it.” 

And as Emmett tripped along in her wake, grinning foolishly, he was forced to admit to himself that he’d willingly sit through a hundred more unpleasant conversations with Vivian and at least a dozen boring parties if it meant Elle would hold his hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> I might turn this into a series of little scenes inspired by lyrics from the musical. I've got scenes in mind for "she was something to see there" and a couple of others, but I'll also happily take requests or suggestions. If you have any ideas of lyrics you'd like to see turned into a little fic, or any requests more generally, please feel free to message me on my tumblr (lucycourageous)!
> 
> The comment about Warner being put on a waiting list for Harvard is from the movie rather than the musical, but whatever, it worked here so I used it.


End file.
